I don’t know Iowa’s song, but appropriate lyrics might include, “Onward Iowa, land of February snow drift. Oh Iowa, when I placed my snow-wet cold hand on my metal door, I called out, “Oh S&@t!’
That was my 7am experience today. I had only gone to my car in the below zero weather to ensure it started. On my way inside my right hand froze to the door handle. My right hand’s nerve endings still burn 30 minutes later!
Good morning from snowy Portland! As a Great Lakes native from the snowy, rusty behemoth that is Cleveland, and who also went to grad school in Albany, NY, I always find it funny how little snow shuts Portland down or how many people freak out and abandon their cars on roads, hills, and even on the highway or bridges! It is especially bewildering as we have mountains nearby, and many people are skiers, snowboarders, and snowshoers. Perhaps it is the many Californian and Texan transplants?
Nevertheless, this is precisely what happened yesterday and today. This past week has been the coldest, and now we have the snowiest days of our winter (there's maybe 3-4 inches on the ground). For us teachers and our students, however, the snow came just in time to generously grant us a five-day weekend (schools closed on Thurs and Fri, & Monday is a bank holiday)!
What is wonderful about Portland is its many arthouse cinemas, and taking the bus to a cinema is the perfect way to spend our unexpected but peaceful, cold, snow day!
The idea that people can go up to the hill (or even the beach, really) and not bat an eye when they hit bad roads, but are absolutely LOST when doing the same thing on 405 never made sense to me. I get that it's not a complete overlap, but still...
On the plus side: here's to the 5 day weekend! Enjoy!
I hear there is discussion of replacing the I-5 bridge crossing into OR. I know it’s an old bridge, but man, it’s always a great photo op when driving south.
Much love for Portland. I went to the MSU/UO game this year, you know, a classic Big 10 matchup. Other than the final score, I had an absolute blast. Autzen is a great place to see a game and the Ducks fans were all cool. I think a lot of them were surprised just how many Spartans were there, especially since thanks to TV deals the game got moved to Friday. I love college football but thanks to TV, it's less and less fun to go to a game or even try to figure out what channel the games are on. But that's a whole other topic. Staying on point, Oregon is awesome.
Autzen rules, and I'm glad you got to see it! I went to the Ducks game here in Madison, and was genuinely surprised at how many away fans showed up. I'm sure some of that is down to the novelty of new opponents/cities to visit, but it was great. What wasn't great? the TV timeouts that seemed to happen every 2-3 minutes.
Yeah, the conferences selling their soul to the networks has been bad for the fans. MSU/UO getting bumped to a Friday night I’m sure hurt the number of people, from both schools that would travel for the game. Same with letting networks dictate the time, MSU had almost all night games. If you’re a Spartan and you’re coming in from say the Detroit area, you’re not getting home until after midnight. And yeah, I don’t have the numbers but it certainly feels like there are more of them and they last longer. I will always prefer college football to the NFL, but at least the NFL runs a tighter ship. The game ends in 3 hours. I love traveling for MSU games, I try to do one a year. It’s a great way to see new parts of the country and meet up with friends. But it’s just getting less and less worth it.
Lovely, you lucky duck. But 1,800 miles to your left? If you turn around, it's 1,800 miles to your right! No wonder air travel is so dicey these days. (jk)
Being from Oregon as well (Rogue River)i loved this when you first posted it and I love it still! I have a few places in life that I call spiritual homes, and the Oregon coast is one of them.
Thank you, Faith! And I feel every letter of that. There is something about the coast that automatically takes my blood pressure down a good 10 points.
Was beautiful reading this again Kev! One day I'll have to visit Portland, the OG keep-it-weird great US city. My nephew who is in his sophomore year at U of Oregon actually transferred to there from San Diego State, so that's really saying something as to the Ducks' allure. Happy Valentine's Day my friend and long live grocery store-bought cards and candy hearts!
Beautiful post. I remember it from last year but it never gets old. I was born 7,000 miles away from where I live, and everything is different, from the language to the culture to the food to the side of the road you drive on. The feeling of "neither here nor there, always somewhat out of place everywhere" resonates with me a lot.
Always out of place is a great way to put it! Sometimes I still feel like a tourist, and I've been here quite a while. I wonder if that ever goes away?
I don’t think it fully does, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It means there’s still something “new” that excites you, that pulls you in, and that can never be a bad thing 😉
We finally solved our tower siting problem and should be broadcasting within about a month. Even with the stream-only signal our live hosts have been committing to their weekly shows - everyone except me, that is! Keeping up with the deluge of new music keeps me very busy. I'm still searching for the right volunteer who can take some of the load. When that happens, I will revive my avant-garde jazz show and debut a '60s pop music thing that I have been putting a lot of effort into.
Nice song about Oregon!
I don’t know Iowa’s song, but appropriate lyrics might include, “Onward Iowa, land of February snow drift. Oh Iowa, when I placed my snow-wet cold hand on my metal door, I called out, “Oh S&@t!’
That was my 7am experience today. I had only gone to my car in the below zero weather to ensure it started. On my way inside my right hand froze to the door handle. My right hand’s nerve endings still burn 30 minutes later!
I think I like Florida’s song better.
Ouch! Hope your hand's feeling better by now.
Good morning from snowy Portland! As a Great Lakes native from the snowy, rusty behemoth that is Cleveland, and who also went to grad school in Albany, NY, I always find it funny how little snow shuts Portland down or how many people freak out and abandon their cars on roads, hills, and even on the highway or bridges! It is especially bewildering as we have mountains nearby, and many people are skiers, snowboarders, and snowshoers. Perhaps it is the many Californian and Texan transplants?
Nevertheless, this is precisely what happened yesterday and today. This past week has been the coldest, and now we have the snowiest days of our winter (there's maybe 3-4 inches on the ground). For us teachers and our students, however, the snow came just in time to generously grant us a five-day weekend (schools closed on Thurs and Fri, & Monday is a bank holiday)!
What is wonderful about Portland is its many arthouse cinemas, and taking the bus to a cinema is the perfect way to spend our unexpected but peaceful, cold, snow day!
The idea that people can go up to the hill (or even the beach, really) and not bat an eye when they hit bad roads, but are absolutely LOST when doing the same thing on 405 never made sense to me. I get that it's not a complete overlap, but still...
On the plus side: here's to the 5 day weekend! Enjoy!
KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD!
I hear there is discussion of replacing the I-5 bridge crossing into OR. I know it’s an old bridge, but man, it’s always a great photo op when driving south.
I love that bridge even if it was Lewis & Clark that built it. :)
Seriously though; I cannot imagine the traffic chaos closing that even temporarily would create.
Much love for Portland. I went to the MSU/UO game this year, you know, a classic Big 10 matchup. Other than the final score, I had an absolute blast. Autzen is a great place to see a game and the Ducks fans were all cool. I think a lot of them were surprised just how many Spartans were there, especially since thanks to TV deals the game got moved to Friday. I love college football but thanks to TV, it's less and less fun to go to a game or even try to figure out what channel the games are on. But that's a whole other topic. Staying on point, Oregon is awesome.
Autzen rules, and I'm glad you got to see it! I went to the Ducks game here in Madison, and was genuinely surprised at how many away fans showed up. I'm sure some of that is down to the novelty of new opponents/cities to visit, but it was great. What wasn't great? the TV timeouts that seemed to happen every 2-3 minutes.
Yeah, the conferences selling their soul to the networks has been bad for the fans. MSU/UO getting bumped to a Friday night I’m sure hurt the number of people, from both schools that would travel for the game. Same with letting networks dictate the time, MSU had almost all night games. If you’re a Spartan and you’re coming in from say the Detroit area, you’re not getting home until after midnight. And yeah, I don’t have the numbers but it certainly feels like there are more of them and they last longer. I will always prefer college football to the NFL, but at least the NFL runs a tighter ship. The game ends in 3 hours. I love traveling for MSU games, I try to do one a year. It’s a great way to see new parts of the country and meet up with friends. But it’s just getting less and less worth it.
Lovely, you lucky duck. But 1,800 miles to your left? If you turn around, it's 1,800 miles to your right! No wonder air travel is so dicey these days. (jk)
Lol. It's a long, long way back out there. Almost further than the Caribbean.
Being from Oregon as well (Rogue River)i loved this when you first posted it and I love it still! I have a few places in life that I call spiritual homes, and the Oregon coast is one of them.
Thank you, Faith! And I feel every letter of that. There is something about the coast that automatically takes my blood pressure down a good 10 points.
do you have a favourite spot?
Sco Ducks!
Sco Ducks!
As a Portlander of 10 years, I approve this message.
Was beautiful reading this again Kev! One day I'll have to visit Portland, the OG keep-it-weird great US city. My nephew who is in his sophomore year at U of Oregon actually transferred to there from San Diego State, so that's really saying something as to the Ducks' allure. Happy Valentine's Day my friend and long live grocery store-bought cards and candy hearts!
Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to you too! Hope it was great, and hope you got lots of candy hearts!
I have lived in Oregon since 2003! Cali native.
I think of Portland I think of Grimm :)
Beautiful post. I remember it from last year but it never gets old. I was born 7,000 miles away from where I live, and everything is different, from the language to the culture to the food to the side of the road you drive on. The feeling of "neither here nor there, always somewhat out of place everywhere" resonates with me a lot.
Always out of place is a great way to put it! Sometimes I still feel like a tourist, and I've been here quite a while. I wonder if that ever goes away?
I don’t think it fully does, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It means there’s still something “new” that excites you, that pulls you in, and that can never be a bad thing 😉
I'm a 541 kind of guy. The Northeast rules.
503 for me, but NE Oregon is a gorgeous part of the world! How's the station doing?
We finally solved our tower siting problem and should be broadcasting within about a month. Even with the stream-only signal our live hosts have been committing to their weekly shows - everyone except me, that is! Keeping up with the deluge of new music keeps me very busy. I'm still searching for the right volunteer who can take some of the load. When that happens, I will revive my avant-garde jazz show and debut a '60s pop music thing that I have been putting a lot of effort into.
Keep up the good work.
Steve
Saw a lot of good jazz at The Tugboat.
Right on! Please keep me posted!
Aw this was sweet. There are a few retired pdx record store owners here at the coast that I bet you chatted up long ago
Could be! I saw in the other thread you were in one in Astoria recently. I gotta get back out there.